My TO DO LIST makes me HAPPY!

Call me crazy, compulsive, neurotic or whatever you want, but my to do list makes me happy. I know this now because for a week I intentionally took it away and well… I was lost, miserable, emotional, unfocused and just not pleasant to be around. It was the longest week of my life.

Last week I decided to not do a list, to not set up a schedule for myself and to well just see what happens. I intentionally did not file papers and bills, if the kids left something on the dinning room table it stayed there and lets not even talk about the pile of shoes remaining by the front door. My thinking was that my need for organization and having everything in its place was all about control. Since I am trying to fight that demon… it made sense at the time that this could be a simple start. But guess what… WRONG! My entire week was off. I did not exercise, I did not blog regularly, I was lost in a sense.

What I learned is that my physical surroundings DO influence my spiritual happiness. Clutter literally clutters my mind. It makes me edgy, tense and well… not happy. I realized that I clean, I organize and I make my To DO List not because I have to… but because I want to. It makes me feel better. My To DO List reduces my stress. It helps me prioritize what it is important. It reminds me what has to be done and lets face it… I can use as many reminders as possible. And most importantly my To Do List empowers me. YES you read correctly… empowers me. I get giddy at the thought of being able to check or cross something off my list. I admit I will sometimes even but things I have already done or that are gimmies like eat lunch, just so I can have that thrill of being able to check it off. I know… crazy, but that is me.

So to all my family members and friends who have and will always I am sure make fun of my To DO List… I say… Go ahead and Mock me, I don’t care, it makes me happy and that is all that matters.

Wow I can now cross off “Do a Post for Blog” and “Do something that makes me happy” off my list! A two for one deal… I feel tingly all over!

welcome to my world, shoes by the door, stuff left everywhere, i’m still making my list, can’t live without them, just no one is doing anything else. guess i have an excuse, i can’t clean with crutches, but nothing is wrong with the rest of them. mark has been vacuuming regularly. it’s driving me crazy!!!!

I definitely relate to this! I am also a detail-oriented planner, I like having everything in order, and I feel empowered when I check off items from my to-do list. My husband is such a live-by-the moment person so we balance each other out a bit. I have tried taking a week off from to-do lists and cleaning before only to find the following week to be too stressful trying to catch up. Just like you said, my physical surroundings affect my mood and ability to concentrate, and being organized reduces my stress. I have often wondered if I have OCD, but I talked to my Aspie son’s doctor and she said in order to be diagnosed with OCD an individual needs to repeatedly perform an activity (like cleaning a floor that had already been cleaned) that interferes with a daily task, such as picking up the kids or completing a work deadline. Luckily this is not the case, so I just try to limit my daily expectations (things that have to be done versus things I would like get done).

[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ‘0 which is not a hashcash value.

I definitely relate to this! I am also a detail-oriented planner, I like having everything in order, and I feel empowered when I check off items from my to-do list. My husband is such a live-by-the moment person so we balance each other out a bit. I have tried taking a week off from to-do lists and cleaning before only to find the following week to be too stressful trying to catch up. Just like you said, my physical surroundings affect my mood and ability to concentrate, and being organized reduces my stress. I have often wondered if I have OCD, but I talked to my Aspie son’s doctor and she said in order to be diagnosed with OCD an individual needs to repeatedly perform an activity (like cleaning a floor that had already been cleaned) that interferes with a daily task, such as picking up the kids or completing a work deadline. Luckily this is not the case, so I just try to limit my daily expectations (things that have to be done versus things I would like to get done).

[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ‘0 which is not a hashcash value.

I definitely relate to this! I am also a detail-oriented planner, I like having everything in order, and I feel empowered when I check off items from my to-do list. My husband is such a live-by-the moment person so we balance each other out a bit. I have tried taking a week off from to-do lists and cleaning before only to find the following week to be too stressful trying to catch up. Just like you said, my physical surroundings affect my mood and ability to concentrate, and being organized reduces my stress. I have often wondered if I have OCD, but I talked to my Aspie son’s doctor and she said in order to be diagnosed with OCD an individual needs to repeatedly perform an activity (like cleaning a floor that had already been cleaned) that interferes with a daily task, such as picking up the kids or completing a work deadline. Luckily this is not the case, so I just try to limit my daily expectations (things that have to be done versus things I would like to get done).